Reuben Sandwich Deal at Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget

Reuben Sandwich Deal at Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget 

The Pebble Beach Market across from the Lodge in Pebble Beach (California) has a pretty good sandwich deal for Reuben sandwiches, that comes with Vicki’s sea salt chips and a large soda for about $24 as of 4/3/2025. 

There is a picnic area to the right of the store with tables and wooden lawn chairs in front of the store to do people watching at the Lodge. There are also picnic tables at three pull-offs between China Rock and Bird Rock. 

The reuben is a German-inspired sandwich I learned to eat at the University of Chicago when I was a student there. It is made with grilled rye bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing. 

Corned beef has been preserved with salt. Before refrigeration existed, this preservation method ensured that you could eat beef on a regular basis without getting sick. 

The corned beef at The Market was freshly cut for the reuben sandwich. It was moist, flavorful, and warm from grilling. 

The sauerkraut was mild and plentiful and packed with Vitamin C and fiber. The Swiss cheese was sharp and added some pleasant acidity to the sandwich. 

What made the sandwich stand out was the Russian dressing. At Pebble Beach, this dressing is made with mayonnaise, a hint of ketchup, lots of grated horseradish, and chives. The horseradish is also loaded with Vitamin C and piquant. The Russian dressing pulls the sandwich’s flavors together. 

The Market at Pebble Beach offers hot and cold sandwiches, salads, and soup. 

For more information on sandwiches, check out: The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches: Recipes, History, and Trivia for Everything Between Sliced Bread by Susan Russo 

Every college student and parent should know what is in here for making sandwiches for themselves and/or getting gig jobs in sandwich shops. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Phô at Saigon Noodle in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Phô at Saigon Noodle in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

I have always liked the savory taste of Vietnamese chicken noodle phô soup. The last time I ordered it from Saigon Noodle in Salinas (California), I looked more closely at how it is made. 

Author Linda Nguyen writes in the Phô Cookbook: Simple, Delicious, and Authentic Vietnamese Phô Recipes for your Family (on Amazon Kindle) that the following ingredients go into this yummy, comfort food: 

-fresh ginger 

-a quartered chicken with bones 

-jalapeño pepper 

-basil leaves 

-yellow onion 

-sugar (1 teaspoon) 

-salt 

-Asian fish sauce 

-rice noodles

-chicken bones or chicken wings 

-bean sprouts -lime wedges 

-sriracha or other chili sauce 

For the recipe, you roast the onion and ginger till brown, which gives the final broth its beautiful, golden brown color full of nutrients. 

Then, you place water in a stockpot and add the chicken bones, chicken, onion, ginger, salt, and sugar. The chicken bones will add gelatin to the final broth, which adds extra protein to the soup. 

You simmer the soup till the chicken is tender. You remove the chicken at this point and separate the meat from the bones and skin. The meat goes in the refrigerator. The skin and bones from the chicken go in the stockpot with the broth to be simmered for another hour. The broth is drained with solids removed at the end of the hour. 

The drained broth goes back in the stockpot and is reduced to 6 cups. You add fish sauce and the chicken meat and boil till thoroughly heated. 

While the broth is reheating, you make the rice noodles. The broth is served over drained rice noodles with vegetables added on the side including the following: 

-bean sprouts 

-jalapeños 

-chili garlic sauce 

-lime wedges 

Saigon Noodle places its delivery soup in a large bowl with rice noodles on the bottom, a generous helping of chicken on top, and a handful of chopped green onions on top of the chicken. 

There is about 1½ pints of scrumptious broth that comes with the soup. 

The Vitamins A, C, and E are in the phô along with protein and fiber from the bean sprouts. The chicken noodle phô soup at Saigon Noodle in Salinas, California tastes good and is very good for you, too. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Jack's for Latte and Pastries in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Jack’s for Latte and Pastry in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Jack’s in Salinas, California is located on a small business island in the parking lot of Nob Hill Foods by Weinerschnitzel.

Jack's is a drive-thru, locals place for strong espresso-like lattes like the ones I drank in Germany with cinnamon rolls and other pastries for sale.  It is a little less expensive than other local coffee chains and has many of the same kinds of products. 

When I go to Jack’s, I like to think that I am doing a Swedish fika or coffee break. The cinnamon rolls at Jack’s are flavored with cinnamon, cardamom, and sugar like the ones in: 

Fika: The Art of Swedish Coffee Break with Recipes for Pastries, Breads, and Other Treats by Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall (Available on Kindle) 

The only thing you have to know about Jack’s Drive-Thru is that you order, pay, and get your coffee at the same window. The first time I went to Jack’s, I ordered and pulled around to the other window. I got my coffee, but not without a little giggling. 

Once you have your coffee, you can drive down Blanco Road to get your oil changed at Valvoline (you can sit in your car while they do this and sip your coffee) or go to the self car wash next to Valvoline and reward yourself with sips of coffee.

If you do an oil change or car wash and still have energy, you can return down Blanco Road back towards Main Street to do recycling of plastic, aluminum, and glass beverage containers in the Star Market parking lot or drop things off at Goodwill behind Ace Hardware, also in the Star Market Plaza. 

Jack’s is open till 2 pm in case you need to get another coffee after doing errands in town. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Surviving Babel - a review by Ruth Paget

Surviving Babel – a review by Ruth Paget 

Babel by R.F. Kuang is a highly readable story about how racism in 19th century Great Britain affected its foreign policy. 

Kuang’s anti-hero is Robin Swift, an Anglo-Chinese student at the Royal Institute of Translation, called Babel, at Oxford University. Kuang’s novel is set in 1830s England where silver makes the British Empire run. Babel’s translations create magical silver that fund the student stipends and contribute to the British Empire’s wealth. 

The British Empire’s problem in Babel is that the silver is running out due to buying luxury goods from India and China. These two countries want nothing that England produces making the Indians and Chinese accumulate vast reserves of silvers as the British silver funds are being depleted. 

This situation creates the need for certain languages to be taught at Babel and the economic argument to promote the Opium Drug Wars between England and China. 

Robin Swift and his classmates learned languages to fill needs of the British Empire with no other perceived alternatives offered for employment. This negative learning environment brings in Babel’s crime element, which is threaded throughout Robin Swift’s student years and “career.” 

Learning about the traditions and lifestyle at Babel and Oxford University keeps Kuang’s novel from being a pessimistic reading experience. I liked learning about the insider names of the various academic quarters at Oxford and about the third and fourth year qualifying exams, the internships, the immersive language experiences, and profitable languages for translation. 

That students could work during the social upheaval of 19th century Great Britain illustrates the strength of Oxford University as an institution that it still benefits from today as the training ground for the United Kingdom’s leaders.

Readers who might enjoy Babel by R.F. Kuang include: 

-diplomats

-translators 

-economists 

-students applying for fellowships to study at Oxford 

-travelers 

I enjoyed Babel by R.F. Kuang because I was an undergraduate student in East Asian Studies. This novel is definitely a book I would have discussed with my classmates over coffee and pastries at the University of Chicago in the Regenstein Library’s coffee shop. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool) Soup at Olive Garden in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Italian Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool) Soup at Olive Garden in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Pasta e fagioli soup is stand-by dish at the Olive Garden in Salinas, California that is not too expensive and full of protein. Pasta e fagioli is similar to the chili mac that I made as a teenager in very cold Detroit (Michigan) with the difference that chili is made with all red kidney beans and flavored with smoky cayenne red pepper. I credit chili mac with being to withstand subzero walks to school in Detroit. 

Pasta e fagioli is soup with a thinner liquid base than a chili, but is loaded with lots of nutritious ingredients. 

I consulted a recipe for one similar to Olive Garden’s at wellplated.com that calls for: 

-olive oil

-ground beef

-salt

-carrots 

-onions 

-garlic 

-chicken broth 

-crushed, canned tomatoes 

-red kidney beans 

-cannellini beans 

-seasonings – bay leaf, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and red pepper flakes 

To make the soup like the one at Olive Garden, you brown the ground beef till it is no longer pink. You add chopped carrots, onion, and garlic and cook them till soft. Olive Garden might also use chopped fennel stalks for a slight licorice or anise flavor in their soup. 

Once the vegetables are sot, you add the crushed tomatoes, canned red kidney beans, canned cannellini beans, and pasta such as elbow macaroni. 

The seasoning in pasta e fagioli is savory not spicy hot, which I like. 

The pasta e fagioli at Olive Garden is tasty as we would say in the Midwestern US. My daughter Florence Paget and I ordered ½ gallon of the soup that cost $19.79. We also ordered mozzarella sticks (8 for $9.99) and garlic bread sticks (12 for $7.49). Grated Parmesan cheese came with this meal for the soup. 

For a weekend lunch, I think these prices are reasonable for the taste and nutrition content of the food we ate. 

Busy parents might especially like pasta e fagioli soup, mozzarella sticks, and garlic bread at Olive Garden in Salinas, California (on North Main Street). 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Spicy Alaskan Flounder (Sole) Sandwich at Popeye's in Gilroy (South of San José), California by Ruth Paget

Spicy Alaskan Flounder (Sole) Sandwich at Popeye’s in Gilroy (South of San Jose), California by Ruth Paget 

Salinas dwellers like I am can take a quick 30-minute drive to Gilroy, California (south of San José on 101) for seasonal spicy Alaskan flounder sandwiches at Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen. 

Popeye’s is famous for its generous portions in their fried chicken sandwich combos and their fried shrimp combos, but when Alaska flounder is in season, I always order their large spicy flounder combination meal. 

The large flounder filet is deep-fried and served on a brioche bun with spicy mayonnaise, thick pickles, and lettuce. The large combination comes with two side dishes. I always order the red beans and rice and thick and creamy coleslaw made with chopped cabbage, onions, and carrots in cream dressing. The beans and rice and flounder sandwich are spicy and get toned down by the coleslaw. 

Popeye’s offers lemonade among its beverage choices. The lemonade is tart, which l like a lot. I imagine the tart flavor comes from the Vitamin C in lemon juice. 

Popeye’s headquarters is in Miami, Florida, but the restaurant’s theme is Cajun food from Southern Louisiana. Cajun food is eaten throughout the southeastern US and is now spreading to California. 

After eating a delicious spicy flounder sandwich meal, you can stop in and buy books at Barnes and Noble, which is in the same shopping center. My daughter Florence Paget ran in on our last trip to buy The Poppy War series by R.F. Kuang for her mom, who was an East Asian Studies major in college. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Great Deal on British Food Book Today on Kindle by Ruth Paget

Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook of British food is $1.99 today on Kindle.  It has 650 recipes and is 2,372 pages long.  This is a deal, if you like British food.

I own this book and reconnect with my British heritage as I read through the recipes.  Other readers might enjoy it for this reason as well.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France